


the start of something new

by justflydude



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:48:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24025363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justflydude/pseuds/justflydude
Summary: Gina's New Year's Eve wasn't going so great. Ricky and his drinks didn't make it any better...or did they?tw // underage drinking
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30





	the start of something new

**Author's Note:**

> au where rina and friends didn't go to high school together! yes the title is a nod to the hsm nye party no i will not be taking any criticism
> 
> huge shoutout to sam (wqndering on twitter) for helping me edit <3
> 
> hope u all enjoy, feedback is greatly appreciated :)

Gina was never one for parties. Unfortunately for her, EJ can be very convincing (read: annoying) when he wants to be. After his fourth rant— about how she doesn’t get out enough, how her freshman year of college won’t be complete without at least one party, how it’s New Year’s Eve and only a  _ loser _ would stay in their dorm by themselves tonight— she finally agrees to go solely to put an end to his nagging. 

That’s how she ends in some  _ God-awful _ frat house that reeks of dirty socks and beer, with a red solo cup in her hand and EJ nowhere to be found. Being a junior and on the university’s water polo team made him pretty popular among frats even though he wasn’t a part of one; almost immediately after arriving Gina was handed a beer and when she turned to say something to EJ, he was already swept away by some of his friends. 

_ If alcohol helped them loosen up, might as well give it a shot _ , she thinks to herself, her eyes scanning the room full of students. Some are dancing to the overplayed pop music blasting through the DJ’s speakers, others are just standing and talking— she spots a couple making out against a wall by the stairs, making her nose scrunch in distaste. Gina decides maybe she really does need the beer, finally taking a sip.

She has to fight the urge to spit it all out on the floor by her feet, because  _ why the hell do people  _ drink _ this stuff?  _ After forcing herself to swallow, she makes it her mission to find some water, or soda, or anything that isn’t beer. Making a beeline for the kitchen, she’s only half paying attention to her surroundings and more to the Marina and the Diamonds song playing because  _ finally _ they play something good and-

“Ah, shit! I- I’m so sorry,” Gina’s eyes flutter shut as she takes a deep breath-- bumping into someone with a full cup of beer in each hand was the last thing she wanted to deal with. She looks up at who the voice belongs to and wills herself to not think about how cute he looks, staring at her wide-eyed and lips parted in shock, because her  _ white _ shirt is soaked through and it’s so much easier to be angry right now. She manages to mutter “it’s fine” before self-consciously crossing her arms over her chest.

“Here, let me um-” the boy says under his breath. He shrugs his flannel off his shoulders and hands it to Gina, her face feeling less hot as she takes it with a small but grateful smile. “Let’s find a bathroom.”

He places a hand on the small of her back, her skin tingling underneath it despite the layers of fabric between them. After finding a vacant bathroom upstairs, Gina takes a few paper towels and attempts to pat her shirt dry, but with a sigh she realizes that even if it dries a little it’ll still be translucent for another couple of hours. 

“If uh, if you wanna wear the shirt for the night you can. I was starting to hate my outfit anyways.” From behind her, he locks eyes with her in the reflection of the mirror, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Gina’s finding it harder and harder to stay bitter. 

“Thanks, I might take you up on that,” she breathes out a laugh through her nose. “Walking around with a sheer shirt probably isn’t the best idea at a frat party.”

He hums in agreement, leaning against the door. They hold each other's gaze for what feels like a few very long seconds before the boy clears his throat. “I’m Ricky, by the way.”

Gina tilts her head and smiles. “Nice to meet you, Ricky. I’m Gina.”

“The circumstances definitely could’ve been better, but likewise,” they both laugh, not meeting each other’s eyes as silence settles between them once again.

“So do you want to-”

“I was actually gonna-”

They both start their sentences at the same time, laughing again as they cut one another off. “You first,” Ricky insists.

“Okay um,” Gina turns to face Ricky. “I was actually going to take this shirt off— I’d rather just wear the flannel ‘cause it’ll probably get sticky, so if you could…” her voice trails off on the last word, using a finger to make a spinning motion in his direction.

“Oh! Yeah I- of course,” Ricky feels his cheeks heat up as he turns around to face the back wall. When he hears her mumble an “okay” he turns back around and he swears his face flushes even more, if that was even possible. He takes her in— the curls arranged atop her head in a high ponytail, her full lips, her brown skin—  _ God, she’s beautiful _ , he thinks to himself. Quite literally one of the prettiest girls he’s ever seen is wearing his flannel, hanging loose on her shoulders and the top couple of buttons undone, and in that moment Ricky decides he likes it much better on Gina than he does on himself.

  
  


An hour later Ricky and Gina find themselves sitting on the roof of the frat house, overlooking the grassy backyard and the pool where people are swimming and mingling. At some point they both got some punch (spiked, to Gina’s dismay, but it was better than beer) and started talking about everything— their high school friends, what they’re majoring in, how they both hate beer, you name it. Gina discovers that Ricky’s best friend’s name is Big Red, which she grilled him about, and he swore to her that it’s just what he asked to be called ever since they met in freshman year and Ricky never pushed. Ricky asked about EJ, not-so-subtly trying to see if she had a thing for him. She didn’t, obviously, but she thought it was cute and messed with him a little before making it clear that she would never date her roommate’s cousin.

“Five schools in seven years?” Ricky scoffs and shakes his head in disbelief. “That’s insane—  _ I _ would’ve gone insane. That must’ve sucked.”

Gina’s gaze is fixed on the people below them, and her lips twist into a solemn smile. “Yeah it...it wasn’t great. I’m just glad I got to spend junior and senior year with the same people— even then I had to stay with my aunt for my last semester and I only got to see my mom on breaks and when I graduated. Like, I love her and I know she loves me it’s just...sometimes it felt like she loved her job just a little bit more.”

She tells herself that the vodka in the punch was making her pour her heart out to a person she’d just met, but in the back of her mind she knew that wasn’t the case. Gina felt an odd sense of comfort talking to Ricky, like she’s known him her entire life. And Gina doesn’t know it, but he was thinking the exact same thing.

Ricky also ends up staring aimlessly at the people below them as he talks about his parents’ separation and how he sort of gets what that’s like, though it’s definitely not the same thing. Gina redirects her attention from the backyard to Ricky’s profile— his sloped nose, his dark lashes, his curls— is it too early to say she’s got it bad?

“What?” Ricky’s question snaps her out of her trance, “Is there something on my face?”

“No,” she says, still looking a little mesmerized before a smirk works its way onto her face, “just thinking about all the ways I could get you back for ruining my favorite shirt.”

“Ouch,” Ricky winces, putting his hand over his heart as if he had been shot, “you tell a girl your emotional trauma and all she does is plot her revenge,” Gina giggles at his dramatics. Ricky feels his heart grow three times its size, like, the Grinch or something. “And there’s no way that was your favorite shirt, Gi, you probably have like four more white shirts just like it.”

Now it’s her turn to pretend to be offended, hand over her heart and all. She tries (and fails) to ignore the way her heart jumps at the nickname. “It’s called versatility,  _ Richard _ .”

“Oh no, not the government name,” they both burst into a fit of laughter, but it quickly dies down when they hear a chorus of voices counting down from ten.

_ Nine... _

“Hey,” Ricky says softly, scooting closer to Gina.

_ Eight… _

“Hey,” Gina says back with a smile.

_ Seven… _

“So there’s this tradition-”

_ Six… _

“-that people do on New Year’s Eve,” Ricky raises his eyebrows, shifting his upper body weight onto his left hand that he places just behind where Gina is sitting. She positions herself so that she’s almost fully facing him, but not quite.

_ Five… _

“Really?” Gina fakes intrigue and tries (but fails, again) to suppress her smile that doesn’t seem to stop growing. “Tell me more.”

_ Four… _

“Well, people usually- uh,” Ricky’s confident facade is slowly dissolving. With Gina’s warm, brown eyes staring into his, how could it not?

_ Three… _

“Kiss?” she leans closer, her nose just barely brushing his.

_ Two… _

“Yeah,” he whispers.

_ One… _

Their lips finally meet, one of Gina’s holding his cheek as Ricky rests his free hand on her knee. The kiss is short yet electrifying— Ricky pulls away first, just enough to rest his forehead against Gina’s. She gently nudges his nose with her own and whispers, “Happy new year, Ricky.”

They both had a feeling that it would be.


End file.
